Saturday, June 30, 2007
CTA Deal Still Pretty Sweet; McHenry County Tax Hike Still Threatened
I am certain that CTA union officials must be smiling.
Even thought the Chicago Sun-Times reported Thursday,
Talking to a former NICOR union vice president last Saturday, I learned that Northern Illinois Gas union employees pay 40% of their health care costs.
Paying 40% is a real incentive not to misuse health care.
The coming Chicago Transit Authority’s 3% isn’t.
Notice the pension plan doesn’t look like the private sector’s norm—a 401(k). It’s still a defined benefit plan.
And the pension plan was what the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 241 wanted to save.
The Sun-Times reports its president, Darrell Jefferson, said,
Maybe you won’t notice the difference at the cash register, but I’ll bet you the extra money does not get spent in McHenry County.
And will it pass?
Former Jacksonville State Representative Jim Reilly, now head of the RTA, “predicted that the sales tax hike could attract ‘extraordinary majorities in both houses’ needed to override a veto.”
Even thought the Chicago Sun-Times reported Thursday,”The bottom line for CTA unions is an agreement that would force bus drivers and motormen to lose money during the first year, break even in the second and finally start making money in the third year,"employees are being called to contribute only 3% toward retiree health care and 6% toward their pensions (up from 3%).
Talking to a former NICOR union vice president last Saturday, I learned that Northern Illinois Gas union employees pay 40% of their health care costs.Paying 40% is a real incentive not to misuse health care.
The coming Chicago Transit Authority’s 3% isn’t.
Notice the pension plan doesn’t look like the private sector’s norm—a 401(k). It’s still a defined benefit plan.
And the pension plan was what the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 241 wanted to save.
The Sun-Times reports its president, Darrell Jefferson, said,
The CTA still wants McHenry and other collar county residents to double the amount of sales tax (from one-quarter of one percent to one-half of one percent) to the Regional Transportation Authority."We’re living in a time now when pension plans are being crashed instead of being brought back to life. I think we’ve done a remarkable thing here.”
Maybe you won’t notice the difference at the cash register, but I’ll bet you the extra money does not get spent in McHenry County.
And will it pass?
Former Jacksonville State Representative Jim Reilly, now head of the RTA, “predicted that the sales tax hike could attract ‘extraordinary majorities in both houses’ needed to override a veto.”
Labels: Amalgamated Transit Union Local 241, Chicago Transit Authority, CTA, Darrell Jefferson, Jim Reilly, Regional Transportation Authority, RTA
